LONG-RUNNING DISPUTE ON STRESS AND ADDICTION

Undercover Police Settle

Wellington (NZPA) : Up to 19 undercover police officers have reached a
confidential settlement over their long-running claim against police for
stress and drug addiction.

Police management reached the agreement with the officers at the High Court
in Wellington yesterday.

The terms were confidential, but did include rehabilitation and retraining
for the officers.

Former Police Association secretary and lawyer Rob Moodie, who has been a
facilitator for the officers since 2002, said he could not discuss specific
details about the settlement because it was confidential.

But the officers were happy with the outcome and were very pleased that
Police Commissioner Rob Robinson have given the officers the opportunity to
settle, he said.

"I am very comfortable with it and very pleased to see a 10-year saga
drawing to a close in a satisfactory way. There is closure on it and they
now have opportunities for assistance."

Dr Moodie said undercover policing remained risky.

"The undercover programme will always produce casualties. It's better
monitored and better managed than it has ever been. But drugs are getting
more potent and even the secondary inhalation of smoke and vapours from
some of these drugs is quite damaging.

"Undercover work is some of the most dangerous work you can do in the
police and certainly the most scary," he said.

"What has been put in place for these people will have a long-term role"

The exact number of officers covered in the settlement was unclear. Dr
Moodie said it was "the majority" of the 19 former officers. A police
spokeswoman said they understood the number was "in double figures".

Five other former undercover officers were paid about $480,000 last year in
a Police Association-negotiated settlement. The individual pay-outs varied
depending upon each case.

All the officers claimed they suffered post-traumatic stress disorder and
became addicted to cannabis and other drugs as a result of working
undercover. They claimed it also affected their career prospects.

The dispute began in the early 1990s. The association had spent at least
$800,000 in legal fees and the Crown Law Office a similar amount by May
last year.